English Muffin Bread

I've been hoping to post more to the blog in the new year, and I currently have a little kitchen experiment running I hope to post about in a few weeks, but for now, I'll have to stick with shorter entries if I hope to get anything in here at all.

Youngest came down with a fever at the end of a grocery week -- as they always seem to; I should start stocking food like I'm prepping for an apocalypse -- and I knew the half of a loaf of bread and box of crackers in the house wasn't going to cut it for very long.  I've learned that with a household of two small kids and one adult, you can end up stuck home a very, very long time if illness hits.

So I went into a baking fervor to stock the breadbox and the freezer.  Which is painful, honestly, because I am trying valiantly to stop eating grains again.  I'm not ready to do that to the kids, though -- from a preparation and planning standpoint.  SO.

Of the things I baked, English Muffin Bread was the easiest and, I have to say, toasted and lavishly buttered -- the most delicious.  This is barely adapted from the April/May 2012 issue of Cook's Country magazine.

ENGLISH MUFFIN BREAD
Makes 2 loaves



Cornmeal
5 c bread flour
4 1/2 t yeast
2 T sugar
2 t salt
1 t baking soda
2 1/2 c whole milk, heated to 120 degrees

1. Grease two loaf pans and dust with cornmeal.  Combine flour, yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda in large bowl.  Stir in hot milk until combined and dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute.  Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, or until dough is bubbly and has doubled.

2. Stir dough and divide between prepared loaf pans, pushing into corners with a greased rubber spatula.  Cover pans with (greased) plastic and let dough rise in a warm place until it reaches the edge of the pans, about 30 minutes.  Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

3.  Discard plastic and transfer pans to oven.  Bake until bread is well browned and registers 200 degrees, about 30 minutes, rotating and switching pans halfway through baking.  Turn bread out onto a wire wrack and cool completely, about 1 hour.  Slice, toast, and serve.